The Promise of Nuclear Fusion
In the last book of the Bible, the apostle John gives a hint of an eternal state in the New Creation with limitless energy:
And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Rev. 22:5, KJV)
Alas, we are not yet at that point, and the world continues to obsess over our ever-increasing energy needs. In the trifecta of future achievements often taken for granted in science fiction, clean limitless energy reigns up there, along with faster than light travel and superconductivity. Lately, the news has been rife with hints that nuclear fusion might be within our grasp.
Science holds hints that near infinite energy is possible. Nuclear fusion is the process that keeps the sun burning, after all. If such a process could be replicated and harnessed here on Earth, it could provide an excellent source of energy for years to come.
CNET has a good write up of what scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have managed to do with fusion ignition using advanced lasers. Firing high-powered, precisely controlled lasers at a nuclear trigger has resulted in a burst of increased energy. The experiment has been replicated four times now, although the equipment used is so advanced, offsite replication is difficult.
For now, the work is very promising, with hints of what might come later. Stay tuned.
On Christmas Day, Apocalypse Code debuts, the sixth book in the Star League Assassins series. I’m happy to announce the pre-order availability for the seventh book in the same series, Time’s Thief, scheduled for release on Feb. 6. If you are new to the story, for the next few days the Star League Assassins Books 1-3 box set is free on Amazon.
(Image courtesy Microsoft Designer via Bing.)